$50 Spa Treatments This Week!

I had no idea that April 13th - 19th was SPA WEEK!

This information was too good not to pass on to my bloggy friends!

Please go to "Miss Bargainista's" Blog and check out all the info!

I'm definitely going to try to schedule one in this week!

Beginner's Guide to Building Traffic with Feedburner

Are you confused about how to use FeedBurner to your advantage? Check out this 22 page report chocked full of tips as well as screenshots to help you.

Right click and Save as to download -> Beginner’s Guide to Using and Building Traffic with FeedBurner (123)

Reach Your Target Market and Be Seen as an Expert with Linkedin

Author:  Christine Gallagher

I have had a profile on Linkedin for a while now, but as with my MySpace account, I let it languish for a long time.  I wasn't seeing Linkedin as a place to make connections and find others in my niche.  It also seemed heavily corporate, with people looking for jobs more so than small business services or products.  

Originally, serving that more corporate-type population was why Linkedin was established.  However, I have recently noticed more activity among small business owners, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs.  While Facebook offers a more personal snapshot of a person, Linkedin has really become a good place to create beneficial professional relationships as well as be found by potential clients and customers. 

If you are interested in finding out how to use Linkedin to help grow your business and boost your visibility, here are a few ways to use this social network to do so:

Do a search for people in targeted fields and positions. Send them a request to join your network and be sure to personalize your message.

Create a thorough profile with your photo, websites and title.  It is a good idea to include past experience, positions and education as well--the more information you supply, the more ways you allow others to find and connect to you.

Answer questions posed by other members in your community that fall into your area of expertise. "Linkedin Answers" provides a place for you to view open questions that you may respond to.  This is a wonderful way to promote your specific knowledge.

Ask for recommendations of your work and offer to provide them for others.  The glowing recommendations you receive will be posted right to your profile.

Develop a targeted group of contacts in your niche and start connecting each other. Try to help others expand their own networks.

Look through your contacts' networks. Select a few people each month you think would be good to know and request that your contacts introduce them to you.

As with Facebook, Linkedin offers a way to feed your blog posts right into your profile.  Add an application called BlogLink--this supports blogging platforms such as TypePad, Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org, Blogger and more.

Invite people in your network to ask others in their networks to a discussion group or an on-line networking event.

A great tip for increasing your search engine ranking with your website listing: when you go to type in your web address for your profile, you will have several choices in the drop down menu.  If you choose "other" you have the option to type in any text you'd like which will then link to your site.  Choose the keywords that you think would best get you found when someone searches in the search engines and voila, instant search engine optimization! (Linkedin is ranked very highly in Google.)

Get some publicity.  Many members of the media as well as some of the top bloggers have profiles on Linkedin.  Why not reach out to them and connect?  You never know where the relationship will lead.  Of course, don't spam them.  Send a polite and personalized message and you will have a spot on their radar.

Finally, don't forget to add a link to your profile in your email signature.  The great thing is that Linkedin allows you to customize the link to your public profile to include your name.  For example, my link is http://www.linkedin.com/in/christinesgallagher. You should always include your social networking profiles in your signature so that every time you send an email, others have a way to connect.

As you know by now, connection is what it's all about!

 

 

© 2009 Communicate Value. All Rights Reserved.

Christine Gallagher, The Online Marketing and Social Media Success Coach, is founder of Communicate Value, where she is dedicated to teaching solopreneurs and small business owners how to use online marketing and social media to communicate effectively and authentically and attract more business. To get your F.R.E.E. 5-Part E-Course and receive her weekly marketing & success articles on leveraging technology, building relationships and boosting your profits, visit http://communicatevalue.com.

Why You Need A Virtual Assistant

This article explains it all!

Can’t Keep Up With You Work? Virtual Assistant is What You Need!

Author: On Demand Virtual Assistant

 

If you do not have any idea with what Virtual Assistant is, you do not have to worry. About a year ago, I came across with the term myself. It sounded like a hi-tech job that I’d know something about until I tripped across a little information and I found out that Virtual Assistant is what I am! That’s not all, it came to my mind that small businesses were absent on the chance to improve their effectiveness by abandoning the vast talent with ease that is available online.

Virtual Assistant: what is it?

In the mid 90’s, the term Virtual Assistant started. VA’s are really like telecommuters, more often than not, performing administrative duty for businesses and working in their own houses instead of the place of work they provide the services for.

Using a VA can be a cheap alternative to hiring staff. Bills are changeable and frequently range from 15 dollars to 100 dollars per hour depending on the specialty or work. For small kinds of businesses, even a solely owned business, a Virtual Assistant can dramatically make your work load easily at a very reasonable price.
VA’s provide required skills like proofreading, website design, data management, bookkeeping, writing and a lot more. Some experts work with medical fields or real estate. Others are in charge of the day-to-day duties or help you with projects.

How would I know which Virtual Assistant to choose?

There are some associations like the International Virtual Assistants or IVAA which provide the names of the people who are screened for Virtual Assistants. One more way to find a good VA is by tittle-tattle. As with some freelance work, it would be wise to set up if the worker is well-organized and responsible as you can’t always follow up personally.

All VA’s should have a policy of privacy if they’re not an associate. This will only show that they do understand that the business information of yours is very confidential and willing to take moves to guarantee your privacy.

Finding a VA that you feel at ease with can lead to a bond that will give you the freedom to pass coursework over without the necessity to re-train them about your business. A personal VA will eventually learn your business by making projects, and apply that understanding to all of your coursework.

I have had a great delight in having the wisdom how being a VA can help small kinds of businesses in taking care of their duties. It is a satisfying experience to meet new people, to develop relationships with customers all over the globe that can definitely count on me, and to be exposed to some business that are run online. Think about what hiring a VA for your business can do for your business and yourself.

About the Author:

"Written by OnDemandVA.com , the best place to hire a virtual assistant. OnDemandVA.com is the global leader in providing Virtual Assistant Services to busy professionals and SMB. Visit www.ondemandva.com and Hire your Virtual Assistant straight away at the price which no one in the industry can touch.

www.ondemandva.com
Skype - ondemandva
Email - Sales@ondemandva.com"